Search

Begin New Search Topic Migrants Publication Year within 10 Years

1. Charting the Course: European Perspectives on EU–Tunisia Relations

Author:
Akram Ezzamouri, Colin Powers, and Emmanuel Cohen-Hadria
Publication Date:
01-2024
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
Over the past year, a surge in migrant people arriving from Tunisia to Europe has thrust the North African country into the heart of European political agendas, sparking concerns across the continent’s capitals about its hardships and risk of economic and social collapse. The immediate policy response involved a frenzy of Euro-Tunisian diplomatic activity guided by the Italian government – itself needing to demonstrate some kind of answer to increased migratory arrivals to its shores – and culminated in the signing of the EU-Tunisia Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in July 2023.[1] The MoU, structured around five key areas of collaboration – macroeconomic stability, trade cooperation, green energy transition, people-to-people contacts, and migration and mobility – is said by so-called “Team Europe” to aim fostering a strategic and comprehensive partnership between the European Union and Tunisia. However, observers highlighted its detrimental shortsightedness, the flaws in its legal nature, as well as the necessity to allocate political and financial resources beyond migration management to truly diversify the agreement.[2] Against this backdrop, three European experts offer here considerations on challenges and prospects in EU–Tunisia relations and propose alternative avenues where cooperation can evolve, emphasising the creation of a stable and equitable political environment in both Europe and Tunisia.
Topic:
Migration, Bilateral Relations, European Union, and Migrants
Political Geography:
Europe, North Africa, and Tunisia

2. The Complexities of Transnational Childcare Practices among Ghanaian Families in a Context of Global Pandemic

Author:
Patricia Serwaa Afrifa
Publication Date:
03-2024
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Ìrìnkèrindò: a Journal of African Migration
Abstract:
Childcare remains central in all human societies. This is because it is in children that humans invest their immortality and ensure the continuity of humanity. This partly explains the social collectivism that is brought to bear in childcare to the extent that in some indigenous African societies, the popular axiom is: "It takes a village to raise to raise a child". While the forces of modernity, neoliberalism, and the near-collapse of the extended family system across the world, including indigenous societies, have negatively impacted collective childcare, parents continue to devise creative strategies to nurture their children. The members of the Ghanaian diaspora in the United States of America (USA) often extended invitations to older members of their families, including their mothers, to join them across the Atlantic to help with nurturing their children. This practice of transnational migration of child carers was very efficient in helping children to access Ghanaian cultural values and languages, until the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. With the outbreak of the pandemic, one way of controlling its totalizing effect was the imposition of social distance protocols, which at the peak of the pandemic involved a global ban on all means of human crisscrossing the world. This implied that most diasporic Ghanaians had their family-dependent source of childcare supply significantly cut. This phenomenon inspired the paper. Through in-depth interviews with selected Ghanaian families in the USA through social media and phones, this paper explores the impact of the ban on transnational travel on childcare practices among Ghanaian diaspora in the USA. The key findings of the study suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic did not only cripple the economies of the world, it also blocked the alternatives available to Ghanaians to receive an additional source of care for their children.
Topic:
Diaspora, Family, COVID-19, Strategy, Migrants, and Child Care
Political Geography:
Africa and Ghana

3. Nationality and the Right to Enter: Assessing the Impact of Refusal of Entry for the Purpose of Statelessness Determination

Author:
Cecilia Manzotti
Publication Date:
02-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
Institution:
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School
Abstract:
This article considers the legal situation of migrants, including rejected asylum seekers, who are unable to enter what was, until then, regarded as their country of nationality. This is because that country, without explicitly disputing their nationality, either prohibits their entry or de facto prevents them from entering its territory by failing to issue travel documents or respond to requests for consular assistance for organising return. By examining the conceptualisation of nationality in international law on the one hand, and the international legal definition of a stateless person on the other hand, the article argues that the right to enter the territory of one’s state is so essential to the concept of nationality that refusal of entry and denial of consular assistance for arranging return should be regarded as evidence that the state does not consider a person as its national. Based on this argument, the article further assesses the suitability of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ guidance on statelessness determination in cases of direct or indirect denial of entry. Ultimately, this contribution aims to clarify the scope of the international legal definition of a stateless person by strongly grounding its interpretation in the conceptualisation of nationality in international law.
Topic:
Nationality, Migrants, Right of Entry, Refusal of Entry, Statelessness, and Asylum Seekers
Political Geography:
Global Focus

4. The Causes Behind the Ciudad Juárez Migrant Detention Center Fire

Author:
Josiah Heyman and Jeremy Slack
Publication Date:
04-2023
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:
The fire that killed 40 people on March 27 is the foreseeable consequence of binational immigration enforcement measures by the United States and Mexico.
Topic:
Law Enforcement, Border Control, Immigration Policy, and Migrants
Political Geography:
Latin America, North America, Mexico, United States of America, and Ciudad Juarez

5. Navigating Apathy and Attacks in the Struggle for Migrant Rights in Chile

Author:
Pablo Seward Delaporte
Publication Date:
01-2023
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA)
Abstract:
For one activist, Chile’s proposed constitution missed a historic opportunity to defend migrant rights amid a right-wing backlash that ultimately defeated the new progressive charter.
Topic:
Human Rights, Constitution, Domestic Politics, Right-Wing Politics, and Migrants
Political Geography:
South America, Latin America, and Chile

6. Ten Years of Democratizing Data: Privileging Facts, Refuting Misconceptions and Examining Missed Opportunities

Author:
Donald Kerwin and Robert Warren
Publication Date:
01-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal on Migration and Human Security
Institution:
Center for Migration Studies of New York
Abstract:
The Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) initiated its “Democratizing Data” project in 2013 to make detailed demographic information widely available on the US undocumented, eligible to naturalize, and other non-citizen populations. The paper begins by outlining top-line findings and themes from the more than 30 CMS studies under this project. It then examines and refutes four persistent misconceptions that have inhibited public understanding and needed policy change: (1) migrants never leave the United States; (2) most undocumented migrants arrive by illegally crossing the US-Mexico border; (3) each Border Patrol apprehension translates into a new undocumented resident; and (4) immigrants are less skilled than US-born workers. The paper then offers new analyses in support of select policy recommendations drawn from a decade of democratizing data. It concludes with a short reflection and a case study on the failure of data, evidence-based policy ideas, and national ideals to translate into necessary reform.
Topic:
Border Control, Democracy, Data, and Migrants
Political Geography:
North America and United States of America

7. Linking Migrant Reintegration Assistance and Development Goals

Author:
Camille Le Coz and Ravenna Sohst
Publication Date:
06-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Migration and development are deeply linked. The level of social and economic development in a country shapes why and where people move, and the movement of people affects development in countries of origin, transit, and destination. For migrants returning to their countries of origin, conditions in the communities to which they return shape their employment prospects, access to public services, and other important parts of re-establishing their lives. Recognizing that reintegration does not happen in a vacuum, European policymakers involved in assisted voluntary return and reintegration (AVRR) programs and some origin-country governments have increasingly pushed to add a development angle to reintegration projects. By improving social and economic conditions for returnees and the communities in which they live, these efforts aim to foster sustainable reintegration, boost local development, and reduce the likelihood that returnees will migrate again. However, the path to achieving these intersecting goals is unclear. This issue brief examines the potential benefits of connecting reintegration projects more closely with development goals, mapping existing approaches to creating such links as well as these approaches’ limitations. The brief also outlines measures that could help future policies and programs overcome common hurdles.
Topic:
Development, Migration, Governance, Deportation, Reintegration, and Migrants
Political Geography:
Europe

8. Forced Migration from Ukraine during the Russian-Ukrainian War: impact on the EU and Ukraine

Author:
Alla Atamanenko and Mariia Avhustiuk
Publication Date:
09-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Nowa Polityka Wschodnia
Institution:
Faculty of Political Science and International Studies, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń
Abstract:
The full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, which was accompanied by the violation of humanitarian law and the demolition of civilian infrastructure, has led to the emergence of forced migration. Millions of people left the country within a short period. On March 4, the EU Temporary Protection Directive was reactivated in response to the unprecedented flow of migrants from Ukraine. EU countries have opened their borders to migrants from Ukraine, providing them with shelter and assistance. Poland and its neighbouring states, such as Romania, Moldova, Hungary, as well as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Austria, received the highest quantity of migrants. The wave of migration has had a noticeable influence on the functioning of labour markets and employment, even in those regions of Ukraine which have not been exposed to military activity. Comprehensive studies show that external migration, among other factors, will significantly affect the demographic situation in Ukraine due to the increase in the number of people who do not plan to return from abroad. A key factor in the crisis is the fact that the majority of these people is youth of employable age and children. Besides, educational migration from Ukraine to EU countries has also increased significantly. The influx of immigrants who have established themselves in the nations of the European Union have significantly impacted the labour markets of these countries, putting a considerable strain on the public funds of the host countries. The question of Ukrainian immigrants’ ability to engage in activities such as schooling (including access to educational opportunities for children), employment, residence, and healthcare in both the immediate and long-term future is coming to the fore. Ukrainian and international scholars alike have done numerous studies on external migration from Ukraine; nonetheless, the forced migration resulting from the full-scale military invasion of Ukraine has yet to be adequately examined. Subsequently, the article is intended to examine the displacement circumstances in Ukraine and the EU and to evaluate the consequence of compulsory external migration in Ukraine and the EU.
Topic:
Migration, European Union, Refugees, Forced Migration, Migrants, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:
Europe

9. Interrogating the legality, appropriateness and sustainability of vigilantism against migrants in South Africa

Author:
Charity Mawire and Clayton Hazvinei Vhumbunu
Publication Date:
10-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Conflict Trends
Institution:
The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:
Since mid-2021, in the period preceding the run-up to the South African Municipal Elections that took place on 1 November 2021 to elect councils for district, metropolitan and local municipalities, South Africa experienced a rise of vigilantism against migrants and anti-immigration activism. Vigilantism against migrants and anti-immigration activism existed before 1994 and in the post-apartheid era, and it has often resulted in, or triggered, xenophobic attacks and xenophobic violence. However, it is the emergence of anti-immigration groups that has given rise to some community members, especially in urban areas, conducting vigils aimed at enforcing the country’s immigration laws and labour laws relating to the employment of foreign nationals. The communities are also focused on enforcing compliance with municipal by-laws on the regulation, control and licencing required for hiring and use of municipal premises and facilities for trading by foreign nationals, and the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants (FCD) Act 54 of 1972 together with public health regulations relating to the alleged selling of expired, contaminated, unsafe, unhygienic or counterfeit food and food products by foreign nationals mostly operating spazas or small shops. Anti-immigration groups include Operation ‘Dudula’, the social media-based Put South Africa First Movement, the South Africa First Party, and All Truck Drivers Foundation (ATDF), among others. Vigilantism against migrants in South Africa rose in intensity, scale and scope in the first quarter of 2022, reaching disturbing levels on 7 April 2022, when a Zimbabwean national living in South Africa, Elvis Mbodazwe Banajo Nyathi, was brutally assaulted and burnt to death in the Johannesburg township of Diepsloot.1 As vigilante groups continue to engage in anti-migrant activism and grow their grassroots support and geographical and regional coverage, this paper seeks to interrogate the legality, appropriateness and sustainability of vigilantism against migrants in South Africa. The analysis adds to the ongoing mainstream debate on illegal migration in South Africa.
Topic:
Security, Crime, Discrimination, Xenophobia, Peace, Stigmatization, and Migrants
Political Geography:
Africa and South Africa

10. The Criminality of Foreign Nationals in Switzerland as a Security Threat in the Context of Swiss Migration Policy

Author:
Paweł Olbrycht
Publication Date:
01-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Polish Political Science Yearbook
Institution:
Polish Political Science Association (PPSA)
Abstract:
The purpose of the research was to investigate the scale of crime by foreign nationals in Switzerland in the context of the effectiveness of the assumptions of the migration policy of that state in the area of security. Materials and methods: The research uses literature sources and statistical data on the crime of foreign nationals in Switzerland and its migration policy. The author used qualitative research methods, including the query of literature and strategic documents (using the content analysis technique) and the analysis of statistical data (using the desk research technique). Results: In the context of the three analysed factors, the following trends can be observed: steadily declining crime in Switzerland; the relatively constant level of crime by foreign nationals, especially since 2018; constant, although relatively mildly growing, percentage of foreign nationals’ crime in the overall crime scale. Conclusions: In the context of the assessment of the effectiveness of the implementation of the assumptions of Switzerland’s migration policy in the area of security, it should be noted that the relatively constant level of the crime rate of foreign nationals, despite their constantly growing population, proves the optimality of these assumptions and their highly effective implementation.
Topic:
Security, Crime, Migrants, and Migration Policy
Political Geography:
Europe and Switzerland